Each fall when students would return to this college town, the complaints would pour in about the funny taste and smell of the water. The City of Charleston determined that a new water treatment plant with an ozone system would be the answer to this long-standing problem.

When the bids for the plans submitted by the original consultant came in nearly $3M over budget, the city hired Crawford, Murphy & Tilly to redesign the plant to fit the city's budget, while meeting its operational needs. CMT met the challenge with a series of measures that took advantage of site conditions to arrive at a cost-effective solution. The schedule was shortened by approximately one year by facilitating the permitting and ozone pilot testing during the design and construction phases.

This project is just the second in Illinois to include ozone and demonstrates that it is a viable option for even smaller treatment plants. It was the winner of an ACEC Illinois Honor Award in 2007.